What We're Up To: Family || January 2013

Family!
January 2013

Well, I got one response to my question, and I think it was a good one. From now on, this blog will just be about the whole family. I’m sure that there will regularly be a section devoted just to Lincoln, since he’s changing the most right now, but in general, it will be about all of us and what we’re up to.

So when we left off, I’d just posted about Madeleine’s 36th month (just before she turned 3) and Lincoln’s 6th. Both months included Christmas and our trip to Florida. And now, on with the show!

MADELEINE: TURNS 3
January 14, 2013, my little girl turned 3 years old. I can remember going to the hospital and meeting her for the first time like it was yesterday.

I am so thankful to God for all of the ways she changed my life. It is infinitely better now. Harder, yes, but so much better.

MADELEINE: LITTLE THINGS
One of my favorite things she did this month was make “sad” sounds for her buddies. For example, Lamby would “baa” sadly. Imagine a regular “baa” sound, then make it kind of sound like a puppy whining while saying that word. If it sounds super cute and sweet but also sad, then you imagined it correctly! TOO CUTE!

She really enjoys helping in the kitchen. Still. I love it!

I don’t remember where we were or the circumstances, but I wrote down something she said: “Do you want to paint? There’s a seat available for you.” I mean, so big, right? She only just turned 3!

Madeleine has started wanting her back and belly rubbed when I’m singing to her at night and naps. It definitely helps soothe her.

So Madeleine is 3, but we’d never had any luck with getting her to sleep with pillows, sheets or blankets. Until now! She mentioned a pillow one night, and I looked in her closet and found The Awesomest Pillow Ever, a feather beauty given to Matt and me by SuSu. I talked it up (though not insincerely), and Madeleine seemed intrigued. She wanted to sleep with it, and we let her. I figured she’d toss it as soon as we left the room, but the pillow made it all night! In the right spot! I don’t think she kept her head on it all night; she still moves around a lot in her sleep and often still sleeps with her knees tucked under her tummy. But it was a success of sorts. Oh, and the next morning, she showed it to Lincoln, very proud of her new pillow.

Whenever we go to the library for story time, they have stories, songs, and movement. The leader hands out little egg shakers and scarves to each kid. One day this month, Madeleine got an egg shaker and came back to me to give it to Lincoln. Without being asked. How big is that??

Here are some pics I snapped when we went outside to look at these seed ball puff things.

And, the seed/ball/puff/things:

MADELEINE: POTTY TIMES
Sounds like a newspaper, right? :)

We had some pretty easy potty experiences this month, culminating in the grand finale: she pooped on the potty all by herself!! On the last day of the month, after we worked with her, gave her flax oil, put her in underwear at night (so she wouldn’t just wait until she was wearing a pull-up), changed sheets at least once a day, SHE WENT ON THE POTTY!!! We made a big deal out it, and OH how easily she remembered all the things she’d been promised as reward for pooping on the potty. HA. Stuff I’d forgotten!

LINCOLN: BABY-LED WEANING
Yay, the much-anticipated start of solid foods arrived on January 17. It’s funny. With Madeleine, we took a 16 minute video of her first “meal.” With Lincoln, I knew right away that he wasn’t QUITE ready. He could barely sit up straight enough. And his grasp of the food wasn’t as good as hers (so far as my memory is reliable, anyway). But he sure enjoyed getting to “eat” with the rest of us!

And then there’s big sister….

More eating a few days into BLW

LINCOLN: LITTLE THINGS
The Bub, sitting in the Boppy, interested in something.

SPEAKING & SOUNDS
No, Lincoln hasn’t started speaking yet. Haha. But he’s making some new sounds! Like “ba, ba, buh.” And we find them adorable of course.

Also, he knows his name now! He will turn when he hears his name. Super cool.

One time when Lincoln was crying (probably while getting a diaper changed), I asked Matt to help get him to stop. Matt did the “bwee-bwee” sound and it totally worked.

Lincoln on a family walk:

Lincoln outside:

PICTURES
Madeleine playing with Raphael, who just happens to fit perfectly on the motorcycle from Papa Pete!

Madeleine pushing Lincoln in the red stroller (while wearing her fanciest dress … and brown pants underneath! What can you say, this girl has a mind of her own—exactly as it should be!)

Monkey Gym!

Together

And … why not?

Playing and swinging

Putting some buddies on the elliptical

And a diaper on big bear!

I love, love watching her play by herself. I don’t just sit and watch, but sometimes I catch little glimpses of it. She is so sweet and nurturing in her play.

We have these two big blue bins that we used on our trip to Florida to carry our stuff. One day when we were putting them away, Madeleine wanted to play in one. Naturally, she wanted Layla to play too, so Matt put the dog in the other. Layla stayed for about a minute before she jumped out.

Lamby. Madeleine set her by the door and I guess forgot about her, so I was able to capture these images of Madeleine’s first furry friend gazing thoughtfully out the kitchen door.

FAMILY I started making bread this month! I got a book recommended by a friend called “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.” Super cool, super easy. Madeleine was my helper from day 1. Here is a picture of our first loaf: